


Random Musings About Writing

by RedSnowWhite



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Meta, Nonfiction, Writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27227425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedSnowWhite/pseuds/RedSnowWhite
Summary: A little while ago, I decided to conduct an experiment. How far could I take my English writing, how to make it engaging, what problems do I have?I figured porn was a good tool for it. (lol)This is what I have learned so far.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	Random Musings About Writing

**Author's Note:**

> I do not know if anyone will be interested in reading this since my usual readership subscribes for, let us say, other reasons ;)
> 
> But, more than anything else, I am doing this for me; it is helpful sometimes to arrange your thoughts in some semblance of order.
> 
> And, maybe someone will find this interesting anyway.

A little while ago, I decided to conduct an experiment. How far could I take my English writing, how to make it engaging, what problems do I have? 

I figured porn was a good tool for it.

No, listen to me.

You see, I am not a native English speaker, and some faculties of the language give me pause. 

What is up with the punctuation?! Why is passive voice considered such a boogeyman? Comma split? What the hell is a comma split, and why should I care about it? What? Strong verbs? But adverbs are just so cute…

But then, what could I do to hone the craft? Obviously, I had to write, and write, and then write some more. What to write, though? I figured my works had to fulfill five conditions:

  1. They had to be short (mainly so I am able to finish them).

  2. They had to be… ahem… _interesting_ (so I am _compelled_ to finish them).

  3. The “genre” must allow for enough variety to let me explore different methods, styles, and techniques.

  4. I did not want to limit myself to fanfiction (also, because fandom-related factors might have muddled my findings)

  5. Someone needed to be willing to read it…




So. Original porn.

Although I might have overreached with expecting any constructive criticism (or any criticism at all) out of folks reading explicit porny stories - I guess that is not what they come here for. Also, I imagine people may shy away from leaving comments under that kind of content. (Or maybe I am just that bad…)

Still, I figured the number of hits, kudos, and bookmarks will tell me which story is working better than others and which is failing miserably. Determining why that is happening can still be difficult, and I may make some incorrect assumptions, but it is a start.

This is what I learned so far.

(Mind that I am still new to the game and this “experiment” only just started.)

### Automatic grammar checkers exist, and they are pretty helpful.

Seriously, more people should use those. They are awesome, especially if you often confuse words and struggle with basic grammar like me. The ones I am testing right now are Grammarly and ProWritindAid, the free versions (because, again, amateur porn). 

But even the free version of Grammarly will fix your misspellings, punctuation, and most glaring grammar mistakes. It will also underline in yellow the parts of your text that could be improved if you pay for the subscription, but even that already tells you something is probably wrong with your sentence structure or word choice, and that you may want to give it a second look.

ProWritindAid, on the other hand, is nice enough to underline all my passive constructions, for which I will be eternally grateful. Because usually, there is a lot - I have a problem with passive voice since it is not as big of a deal in my native language. ProWritindAid also has an inbuilt thesaurus (unlike the free version of Grammarly - there, it only works as long as it is not really useful; the moment it detects a problem with your word choice, it will ask for money). ProWritindAid lets you search for a synonym of an overused word without leaving their webpage. It also underlines all those nasty adverbs and asks if you are _absolutely sure_ you want to keep them.

### Synonyms are a thing

When it comes to looking for synonyms for overused words and weak verbs, neither Grammarly nor ProWritindAid is ideal. Here, Uncle Google comes to the rescue. Did you know that if you search for “[word] define” or “[word] synonyms”, it will give you a nice long list grouped by meaning? With examples?

(Although, Uncle Google probably hates me now, with how many times I have searched for words such as “thrust” or “slippery” or “hot”…)

### Collocations are also a thing

Clichés are evil; everyone will tell you that. But there is a difference between a cliché and a good old idiom. Plus, idioms aside, words in general like some company better than other. That is what a “collocation” is. For example, a _scent_ can often be _heady,_ _pungent_ , or _faint_. And something may _have_ , _be filled with_ , _give off_ or _release_ a _scent_. You can also _reek of_ it or _spray_ it _on_. 

And it turns out some nice folks from Oxford decided the Internet needed access to this data, so they created the[ **Online OXFORD Collocation Dictionary**](https://www.freecollocation.com/). Good job, and bless you.

### Strong verbs and where to find them

I have mentioned the so-called “strong verbs” already. When I first entertained the idea of learning to write properly in English, I encountered this term and went all “???”. Verbs are verbs, right? 

Right?

Nope. 

At least, not in English. Here, some verbs do more “verbing” than others. A verb can be a pathetic weakling that needs help to mean what you want it to mean or an athlete that will carry your sentence all on its own.

Compare the relative descriptiveness of:

  * to cut (into pieces) = to chop

  * to cry (really hard) = to break down

  * to embrace (lovingly and in a comfortable position) = to snuggle

  * to grip (firmly) = to clutch

  * to hit (accidentally) = to bump

  * to push (roughly out of the way) = to shove

  * to thrust (roughly and forcefully) = to ram

  * to make a (resounding metallic) noise = to clang

  * to move (frantically and wildly) = to flail




(Here, I sound like I know what I am talking about, but that is misleading. I still struggle with this concept, and I will probably continue to struggle with it for a while yet since it seems rather alien to me.)

(And no one - no one! - will convince me that adverbs are not cute.)

But how do I know something is a weak verb?

The first sign a verb may need some buffing up is that it has an adverb loitering around it. Adverbs describing a _degree_ are doubly suspect. If something is being done _a lot, a little, forcefully, loudly, partially, severely, gently, easily, quickly,_ or _really slowly —_ then Huston, we have a problem. 

We may also want to pause and grab a thesaurus if the adverb is describing _how_ something is done (ex. _accidentally, continually, erratically, nervously, immaturely, in surprise or fear, greedily, humbly_ ). High chance the verb in question has a synonym that already encompasses the meaning of the adverb.

The third kind of a suspect verb is one that is really basic. Meaning, you can describe a lot of different situations with it. Those are words like _move, look, walk, speak, push, run, put, jump, hit, cut, cry, break, bend_.

Although weak verbs are not always a problem. In fact, if you use verbs that are too "strong" you may end up sounding funny instead of precise and dynamic. Not every step has to be a swagger, and sometimes simpler is better.

That is the theory, anyway.

In practice, how do you find strong verbs to use in a given situation? Thesauruses are the first place to look. I already mentioned the convenient “[word] define” functionality of the Google search engine. There are also multiple “strong verbs for writers” lists floating around the Internet (one I have recently stumbled upon and that is looking great is _“_[ _The Ultimate Guide to Writing Smut Fic_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/955716) _“_ by **QuinnAnderson** here on AO3).

Another method is to take a subject of your sentence, or the object the verb is acting on, and look for them in a collocation dictionary (for example, the [**Online OXFORD Collocation Dictionary**](https://www.freecollocation.com/) I have already mentioned above). Even if you do not find a perfect solution there, it may jog your writer’s bone. 

Although you may want to be a little creative with collocations. For example, if you want some verbs that are acting on a _tea_ , you will find interesting results if you also consider collocations for other common _liquids_ , such as _water_. Turns out water may: _flow, pour, run, gush, spurt, drip, trickle, lap, slosh, spill, splash, spray, squirt, boil, freeze_ , and a lot of those may also pertain to tea (or, ahem, other fluids).

On top of that, a collocation dictionary may throw you some nice descriptive words. For example, if you search for _thigh_ , it will return some interesting adjectives: _fat, flabby, plump, beefy, hard, huge, muscular, powerful, strong, sturdy, lean, slender, slim, bare, naked, silken, inner_.

Be wary of adjectives, though.

(Aaand I should probably heed my own advice. Oh, my lovely adjectives, it pains me _so much_ to press that delete button…)

And lastly.

### You will not believe what things you can find on Wikipedia.

Seriously. Oh. My. God.

Piles of kudos to all the brave, tenacious souls who write all those articles.

(Also, the incognito mode in browsers is there for a reason. Nuff said.)

**Author's Note:**

> Anyway, this is what I have learned so far. Even porn can be educational - who would have guessed.
> 
> (Please leave me a comment if you also struggle with writing, and not necessarily smut or straight out porn. Especially if you have tips. I am always eager to learn something new.)


End file.
